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Competence Allocation in International Competition Policy

This book employs the economics of federalism to create an analytical framework which can be used for comparative analysis of stylised competence allocation rules. The result is a proposal for a sound international multilevel competition policy system that combines elements of both centralized and decentralized governance.
This book provides an innovative and unique perspective on international competition policy and will be of interest to economists, legal scientists and competition authorities as well as academics and practitioners of international governance and international relations and politics.

Chapter 6: On the Appropriate Design of an International Multilevel Competition Policy System

Monograph Chapter

Extract

1. ELEMENTARY FEATURES OF AN INTERNATIONAL MULTILEVEL SYSTEM OF COMPETITION POLICIES An international multilevel system of competition policies along the lines of section 1.2.1 of Chapter 4 represents a complex regime with a multitude of competition laws and agencies – interwoven with each other. Competition policy competences on different levels of the system imply a coexistence of horizontal and vertical interrelation between the elements of the systems. The mutual interrelation of the elements generates dynamics which jeopardise a sustainable balance of centralising forces – destroying the system by monocultivating and eroding diversity – and decentralising forces – destroying the system by causing decay and eroding coherence. As it is argued in this book, competence allocation is crucial in maintaining a sustainable balance between (radical) centralism and (radical) decentralism. Before the derived superior competence allocation rules are reformulated in the context of an international multilevel system of competition policies, the diversity of involved elements is explained in more detail. Drawing on the current structure of antitrust in the world and in the leading jurisdictions, the following vertical structure of an international multilevel system of competition policies is assumed. The top level is global, thus paying tribute to the process of market globalisation. The second level, however, is also supranational. It consists of competition policy regimes that are international, albeit regionally limited. A natural example – and the most comprehensively developed one – is the competition policy of the EU.1 However, there are a distinct number of additional free trade areas and economic integration projects, which either entail...

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